Plancast Helper for WebMatrix

Introduction

Microsoft WebMatrix provides an easy way to get started with web development, and together with new Razor syntax for ASP.NET Web Pages it includes everything you need to get your web site up, running and integrated with many other sites and networks, in a short period of time. The WebMatrix helpers are designed to make your life easier when creating web sites. They provide you a simple and consistent way of performing common web development tasks that otherwise would require a great deal of custom coding. With a few lines of code you should be able to secure your web site using membership, store information in Windows Azure Storage, integrate your site with Facebook, among others things.

The Plancast Helper for WebMatrix provides an easy way to integrate Plancast on your WebMatrix site. With a few lines of code you'll able to show your Plancast plans or the ones from your friends. It is also designed for accessing Plancast data through its API, enabling you to use Plancast in new and interesting ways. 

Getting Started in 60 Seconds

The helper mainly consists of a Plancast.cs file, that should be placed in the App_Code folder of your WebMatrix site. To use the helper follow these steps:

1. If you haven't got a Plancast account, sign up for a basic account.
2. Download the helper package and extract its content in the root folder of your WebMatrix site.
3. Add the following line to the _AppStart.cshtml page of your WebMatrix site, replacing the placeholders with your Plancast username and password.

   @{
       Plancast.Initialize("{your-user-name}", "{your-password}");
   }

4. In any WebMatrix page, add the following line to display a sidebar with the list of your upcoming plans:

   @Plancast.GetSidebarWidget()

Documentation and Samples

Helper reference is available here. Optionally, you can download a sample WebMatrix web site where you can see the helper in action. To download and run it with Microsoft WebMatrix, follow these steps:

1. Download the sample site from the Downloads section. Extract the contents and open the folder in WebMatrix.
2. Configure your Plancast username and password in the _AppStart.cshtml page.
3. Run the sample! It contains code samples and examples of each feature provided by the helper.

Other Useful Resources

Don't miss the helper's getting started screencast.

You can find more information about the Plancast API in http://groups.google.com/group/plancast-api/web/overview.

Learn more on WebMatrix, ASP.NET Web Pages and the Razor Syntax with the WebMatrix tutorials.